Non-fouling flag holder



v. z. REED, JR 2,711,712

NON-FOULING FLAG HOLDER Filed Jan. 25, 1952 June 28, 1955 United States Patent O NON-FOULING FLAG HOLDER 4 Verrier Z. Reed, Jr., Newport, R. I.

Application January 25, 1952, Serial No. 268,209

3 Claims. (Cl. 116-174) The invention here disclosed is a ag holder and flag staff which permits the flag to shift with the wind without fouling, and to take any desired size of Hag within the dimensions of the device, whereby a standard ag without additional sewing or other modification is used and change from flag to flag is simple and easy with a minimum of adjustment and effort.

In yachting circles it is customary to fly a number of flags including not alone the national ag in its various forms but also a club burgee which, in home waters, is the pennant of the home club. In visiting other clubs, however, it is a yachtmans courtesy to ily the flag of the hosts yacht club, making fairly frequent changes of flags desirable. These flags are not conveniently llown from halyards because of the inevitable tangling of the ags in the halyards and around the stati with the result that, unless some anti-fouling device is provided, the flag is usually nearly invisible because of such entanglement. Also, flags are relatively expensive, being usually hand made, and the yachtsman dislikes to fly his best, newest, burgee in foul weather and let it beV whipped to pieces by wind and stained and damaged by rain and the like. For this'reason a yachtsman would much vprefer to haul down his newest pennant and replace it with an older one about which he cared less. To the present, however, no simple, easily adjustable staff has been available which would permit of easy change of flags, permit of easy adjustment of iiags of varying sizes, avoid the necessity for additional sewing or modification of the flag, and at the same time be completely non-fouling under any circumstances.

According to the present invention there is provided the usual staff adapted to enter a deck socket or to be attached to an appropriate mast or other support. The upper end of the staff is then provided with a tubular member journaled freely upon the stal. The staff customarily is of wood although metal is of course equally usable. The tube journaled upon the upper end is preferably of metal and may be of aluminum or bronze or steel-better, stainless steel-or the like. The tube is preferably enough larger than the staff to be an easy lit thereover. The upper end of the tube is reduced in diameter or closed with a disc member to prevent the tube sliding down on the staff below the top of the staff. A hole is desirably made in the closure and a screw or bolt or other fastening means passed through the hole and attached to the upper end of the stati. Adjustable clamps with hooks to enter the standard gromets in the ag are then provided. One clamp is desirably made movable, usually the lower one, thereby providing both a movable and a fixed hook to enter the top and bottom gromets of the flag. By this structure there is thus provided a continuously rotatable ag support to which the liag is attached by movable hooks permitting easy interchange of ilags, without alteration or modification or adaptation of the flag while at the same time providing acompletely non-fouling arrangement free from halyards, free to rotate continuously about the staff,

` used in ags.

2,711,712 Patented June 28, 1955 and readily adaptable to any size of flag with a minimum of attention on the part of the yachtsman.

There is thus provided a highly efficient, non-foulingV the method of attachment to the staff and the upper Fig. 3 is a view of the lower, adjustable, hook; and Fig. 4 is a top sectional view.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal View, in section along the line V-V of Fig. 1.

In practicing the invention there is provided a statt member 1, which may be adapted toV enter a socket in the after deck of a boat, or a similar socket at the stem, or may be adapted to be attached to a mast in any desirable manner, preferably above all other attachments on the mast. The upper end of the staff -may be reduced in diameter if desired, but this is not necessary within the scope of the invention. Surrounding the upper end of the staff 1 there is then provided a tube member 2 sufficiently large to make an easy fit over the staff. This t should allow a play of at least '-l/32 inch to provide against the possibility of swelling of the wood staff or the entrance of dirt or salt or the like. In the larger sizes the clearance may be as much as 1A inch or even more. The top ofthe tube 2 is closed with a member 3 which can be a washer swaged into the upper end of the tube 2 or may be put on as a threaded cap or may be brazed in place or otherwise fastened. The closure member 3 is provided with a central hole. This closure member 3 prevents the tube 2 from dropping too far down along the length of the staff 1 since the upper end of the staff 1 cornes against the closure member 3. To

prevent the tube 2 from being lost off of the staff during handling or high winds or the like, a screw or bolt or cotter pin or other fastening means is passed through a hole in the center of the closure into the upper end of the stalf. Alternatively, of course, a flange may be provided at the bottom of the tube held in place by a recessed collar clamped to or otherwise fastened to the staff.

At or near the top of the tube member 2 there is provided a hook member 4. This may be attached in any convenient way, utilizing a clamp collar as shown in the drawing; or the hook 4 may be made of rod encircling the tube member 2 as desired. It is only essential that the top hook member 4 be firmly held at the end of the tube 2. The hook member 4 is of such a size as to enter easily a standard size of gromet as Preferably the hook is a fairly easy lit through the gromet but, if desired, the hook may be made of spring metal so that the gromet passes over it with a snap and requires substantial pressure for removal. There is also provided a bottom hook 5 desirably carried upon a movable sleeve 6 which is of such size as to slide relatively freely along the length of the tube 2. The sleeve member 6 is desirably split and the ends compressed with a clamping screw 7 as shown in the figures. The clamping screw 7 and associated nut 8 may also conveniently carry the bottom hook member 5 as shown in the figures; or the hook member may be made integral with the sleeve 6 leaving the clamping screw free to serve no other function.

In the operation of the device, the pennant, burgee, or other flag is positioned adjacent to the hooks 4 and 5 and the gromets in the ag slipped over the corresponding hooks. The sleeve 6 is then drawn downward until substantial tension is applied to the reinforced edge of the flag, whereupon the nut 8 is turned up snugly to clamp the sleeve 6 on the tube 2 and simultaneously hold the reinforced edge of the ag under substantial tension.

The burgee or ag then flies in the usual fashion and in a good breeze it is held straight out from the staff regardless of the direction of the wind, and as the wind veers the flag draws the tube around the staff. On a motor boat it thus becomes possible to make a considerable number of circles at top speed without fouling the flag in any halyards or wrapping it around the staff, and in calm weather or at dock there are no halyards for the flag to foul and no impediment to prevent a graceful draping of the ag, especially fromV an inclined staf. When it is desired to change ags or pennants, the nut 8 is merely loosened, the sleeve 6 moved upward enough to free the tension on the back of the flag and permit one or the other of the holding hooks 4 and 5 to be disengaged from the corresponding gromet, Whereupon the flag is readily replaced by another one at the yachtsmans convenience.

By the structure above disclosed there is thus provided a highly eflicient'flag carrier including staff, freely rotatable cylinder, fixed and adjustable clamp thereon suitable for holding a ag free from interference by halyards or rotation of the staff.

While there are above disclosed but a limited number of embodiments of the device and procedure of the inventionit is possible to provide still other embodiments without departing from the inventive concept herein disclosed, and it is therefore desired that only such limitations be imposed on the appended claims as are stated therein or required by the prior art.

The invention claimed is:

l. A non-fouling ag holder comprising in combination a staif member, a tubular member co-operating therewith having a bore slightly larger than stal member and a closed end and a hole therein substantially smaller than the staff whereby the tube will journal freely at the top of staff and will not slide below the stalf top, a pin member passing through the said hole into the body of the staff and having a head larger than the said hole to hold the tube to the staff while permitting free rotation of the tube on the sta; and a pair of clamps on said tube for holding a flag, comprising respectively a formed, sheet metal, split collar adapted to surround said tube, a clamping bolt through the ends of the collar to obtain a friction clamping action between the collar and tube and a hook attached to the collar adapted to engage a grommet in a flag, the hook in the upper collar being turned upward and the hole in the lower collar being turned downward to permit of a stretching action on an attached flag.

2. A non-fouling flag and staff assembly comprising in combination a stai member, a tubular member cooperating therewith having a bore slightly larger than the said stai and a closed end with a central hole therein substantially smaller than the said staff, a pin member having a head passing through said hole into the body of said staff whereby the said tube is held at the end of said stalf but journaled for free rotation thereon,l a pair of clamps carried on said tube comprising respectively a sheet metal split collar, a clamping bolt engaging the ends of the split collar and hooks attached to said collars for engaging and stretching a flag', and a flag held by upper and lower corners engaged with said hooks.

3. In combination, a flag staff and a flag carried thereby, together with means co-operating between flag and stat for stretching said ag while allowing free rotation thereof comprising a tubular member having a closed end perforated for a pin, a headed pin member passing through said hole and engaging the body of said staff and a pair of movable clamps comprising split collars having clamping bolts and flag engaging hooks slidable on said tube for holding said flag under tension.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Warzoha May 5, 1931 

